Drawing of Sasanian rock relief: Ardashir I (r. A.D. 224-241) and the Zoroastrian divinity Ohrmazd [Ahura Mazda] at Naqsh-i Rustam, southern Iran

Lutf-'Ali Shirazi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing of a Sasanian rock relief at Naqsh-i Rustam, Iran, depicts the investiture of Ardashir I (r. 224-241), who receives the ring of office from the supreme Zoroastrian god Ohrmazd, also known as Ahura Mazda. Both king and god are on horseback; the king wears a caftan, the prestigious riding costume of the Sasanian period, and his fan-bearer stands behind him. The horses trample the bodies of the last Parthian king, Ardavan, and the Zoroastrian evil spirit Ahriman. The drawing is one of several in the Metropolitan’s collection made by an Iranian artist Lutf-'Ali Shirazi (1998.6.1; 1998.6.2; 1998.6.4): they are comparable to renderings of Sasanian carved and rock monuments produced by early European travelers to Iran.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.